Mathare United head coach Frank Ouna was over the moon after his charges pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season to see off pre-match favourites AFC Leopards 1-0 at Ruaraka Grounds on Wednesday.
“We've gone for 135 days without winning a single match. This means a lot to us. The win has boosted the morale in the camp and we can now work comfortably on our next match against Posta,” said Ouna.
Meanwhile, his AFC Leopards counterpart Patrick Aussems rued missed opportunities following the defeat.
“Football is a game of efficiency. We got a lot of opportunities but failed to make use of them and our opponents only got one brilliant chance and capitalised on it,” said Aussems.
“I warned players not to underrate Mathare because they've been playing some very tight matches. Well, today they went ahead and punished us,” he added.
Mathare took the battle to their opponents right from the first whistle. Seven minutes into play, the ball bumped off Daniel Otieno’s shoulder and went out after a superb delivery from the left by Norman Ogolla.
In the 26th minute, the Slum Boys' keeper Job Ochieng stretched full length to palm away Austin Ochieng's freekick after Ingwe's top scorer Elvis Rupia was brought down about 20 yards out.
Mathare's moment eventually came at the stroke of halftime when Eugene Wethuli came on the end of John Mwangi's through pass to hurl the ball into the back of the net.
Defeat at the hands of the bottom-placed Mathare undoubtedly hurt Leopards but the score was fair on an afternoon when Ruaraka was characterized by a special display of character and expertise.
If Wethuli was a joy to watch, Ochieng was in a class of his own, saving two consecutive rasping shots in a span of a minute and several others in the course of the game.
In the first encounter of the day at the same venue, goals from Boniface Muchiri and Henry Meja were enough to earn Tusker maximum points against Western Stima.
Elsewhere, defending champions, Gor Mahia were held to a barren draw by Wazito at Thika Stadium in a drab affair.
Following the results, Tusker ascend to first on the log with 44 points, two above KCB, while K'Ogalo remain third with 38 points.
Wednesday's win over Leopards did little to boost the fortunes of the Slum Boys on the log given they still trail with 11 points. However, they will be heading into their next match chins up and high on confidence.
